HARRISBURG, Pa.—Dave Fontanella took a few steps in the bowling alley, swung a ball up and back, and sent it spinning down the alley, smiling when he scored a strike.

When the game ended, the Hummelstown man celebrated his score of 202 by lighting up a cigarette in the Red Crown Bowling Center.

But that was before Red Crown banned smoking at the lanes.

Five Harrisburg-area bowling centers, including Red Crown, recently decided to ban smoking except in some lounges. It's a decision the bowling alley managers say they made jointly to benefit their employees, customers and sensitive electronic equipment.

"We've been waiting for the governor and the Legislature to make the decision," said Karl Schweitzer, owner of Trindle Bowl in Enola.

But, as state lawmakers continued to debate, the managers decided to act.

Fontanella was resigned to the coming change.

"I figured this was coming eventually," he said. "I can go to the bar if I want to smoke."

Don Kirkpatrick, the Red Crown owner, said customers still can light up in the center's Bowl N' Brew Lounge. He said customers have asked for a no-smoking rule for years.

"We don't need a no-smoking law," he said. "Let the marketplace figure out what is right, like we did. Three or four smokers have told me they're not happy with the decision, but most people are very pleased."

Schweitzer, the third generation of his family to run Trindle Bowl, said making the decision

to go smoke-free was easy.

"I spent a lot of money on an electronic scoring system with flat screen monitors," he said, gesturing toward Trindle's 40 lanes. "When we looked inside the old equipment, it was filthy from smoke. The new equipment is more sensitive. We want it to last."

Doris Markelwitz, a Red Crown bowler, applauded the smoking ban because she has asthma.

"I can't breathe right when I inhale smoke," she said after getting scores of 123 and 142 in her first two games. "It's especially bad if smokers sit next to you."

ABC East, ABC North and ABC West all have decided to go smoke free, though the North and West facilities will permit smoking in their lounges.

ABC East, which was destroyed last year by a fire caused by a cigarette, rebuilt and reopened in December as a nonsmoking facility.

Carlos Crespo, ABC North assistant manager, said the smoking restriction was scheduled to begin once the last league finishes its season.

"The majority of people are taking it pretty well, although some die-hard smokers in the league are a bit upset and say they will quit," Crespo said. "We figure the state probably will do it soon anyhow, so we're just starting a little early."

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Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews